Review on 🐠 Seachem Tidal Power Filter - 35 Gallon Fish Tank Filter for Large Aquariums by Barb Cook

This is possibly the best HOB filter for a small aquarium. By small I mean tanks under 30 gallons. The Tidal 35 has some outstanding features that make it a great choice for the small aquarium. It is capable of comprehensive filtering: biological, mechanical and chemical. I say "probably" because I haven't tried the latest Marineland penguins. I had an Emperor 400 years ago and threw it away because it was difficult to fill the pump after a water change. I understand that the problem will be solved in new Marineland products. Anyway, back to the Seachem Tidal 35. The most important feature of this filter is the internal (in the tank) motor. This filter will restart even if the media box is completely dry. The operation of the siphon is independent. This is a "push" system. The impeller is located inside the aquarium below the water level. The impeller pushes the water to the filter. This means that it reliably restarts after a power failure. The filter does not need to be refilled. Priming means putting water in the filter box to start the siphon. Seachem does not require the manufacture of filter media. Yes, you can roll your own. Your knowledge and choice of material determine the effectiveness of the filter. The size of the filter box allows you to pack a lot of filter material. More than enough for a 35 gallon tank. There are other very good filters on the market. I also love the Fluval C and Aquaclears series. The advantage of the Fluval C-Series is that the biological environment is above water level. As a result, the Fluval C-Series has a small wet-dry zone for beneficial microbial growth. Biological filtration improves significantly when the media is exposed to the atmosphere. Bacteria live on oxygen. This is where the Fluval C-Series and Marineland filters have an edge over Seachem Tidal. In most cases, however, maximum biological filter performance is not required. Bacteria grow on every interior surface of the aquarium. Even submerged media has more than enough capacity to provide biological filtration for the nominal gallons of the filter. This Seachem will easily handle the germ load for its power rating. This is a great product from Seachem. It is made for her by the Italian manufacturer Sicce. Yes, it's more expensive than its competitors. The fact that the filter does not have to be refilled is a great convenience factor. This also makes the filter more reliable. A surface skimmer works great when there is charcoal in the filter. Otherwise it cannot remove surface oils. You can reuse or reuse the small ziplock bag that comes with the filter. In this aquarium I have freshwater mussels. So I don't want to filter out suspended matter from the water column. Shellfish are filter feeders. The main purpose of this filter is biological filtration and water circulation. I removed the foam filter. I only use the Matrix Biomedium pack. This allows small particles such as phytoplankton to pass through. At least most of them. I either reduce the water flow or turn off the filter when adding phytoplankton to the aquarium. I also have a Seachem ammonia alert in this tank. Yes, adding liquid phytoplankton increases the biological load of the aquarium. But shellfish must also be eaten. The ammonia alarm lets me know when an increase occurs. This is a great filter. I can recommend it unreservedly. For larger tanks you can also try the latest Marineland Emperor Pro 450. I didn't have the recently revised Emperor. This only applies to large tanks. The Tidal 75 is probably its biggest competitor.